6 Cardinals players that won't survive the trade deadline

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The writing has been on the wall for the St. Louis Cardinals for a while now. They got off to a historically bad start to the season and as the weeks and months dragged on, things did not improve as the lacking of quality starting pitching was too much of a hurdle to overcome. With the second half just getting started, St. Louis is 14 games below .500 and in last place in the National League Central.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak had previously been insistent that this club could compete and even talked about buying at the trade deadline, but his tune has changed in recent days. Now, it sounds like the Cardinals are focused on 2024 which means that guys that will be free agents at year's end are likely to be shopped around and St. Louis won't be pushing for any short-term fixes for 2023.

This is fairly new territory for the Cardinals as they are used to being competitive each and every season. The biggest question to ask now is who are the players that are the most likely to be traded at the deadline.

Here are the 6 players that the St Louis Cardinals are the most likely to move at the trade deadline

While it remains possible that the Cardinals could make a bigger move like trading Paul Goldschmidt at the trade deadline, that still seems unlikely. Everything that is being said publicly is pointing to St. Louis wanting to do a quick retooling of their roster with the goal of being competitive again next season and that means they will want to keep their core together for now. So, we will be focused primarily on pending free agents and expendable roster pieces for the moment.

Lets take a look at the six Cardinals players that are the most likely to get traded at the trade deadline.

Jack Flaherty

Even if the Cardinals' weren't in last place in the NL Central, Jack Flaherty probably would have been available on the trade market. Flaherty is only making $5.4 million this season and is set to become a free agent after the 2023 season ends. While his work early in his career seemed to be setting him up for a contract extension with St. Louis, his recent injury history and production put a damper on those aspirations.

There are some issues here, though. St. Louis is certainly selling at the trade deadline, but it seems like they have specific types of returns they are looking for. Given Flaherty's issues in recent years and the fact that he is about to hit free agency, he may not bring back the near major league ready talent that the Cardinals are seeking. It won't help the demand for his services that his strikeout rate and walk rate have been trending in the wrong direction along with the fact that it sounds like Flaherty has blamed his catcher at least partially for his woes in 2023.

At the end of the day, it is still likely that Flaherty gets moved. He hasn't been good enough to give a qualifying offer and with the Cardinals out of it, moving him still remains the best option. He just probably won't bring back the return the Cardinals would have hoped.

Chris Stratton

The easiest players to move at the trade deadline are relievers that are performing well, aren't making a lot of money, and who are about about to be free agents. Chris Stratton fits that mold to a T as his 2.99 FIP in 2023 is stellar thanks to a much improved walk rate, he is making just $2.8 million in 2023, and will hit free agency after the 2023 season.

While Stratton has had stretches where he was hit harder than one would like, the rest of his Statcast profile looks very promising. There isn't a contender out there that doesn't want to at least entertain upgrading their bullpen and St. Louis is going to be taking a lot of calls about Stratton as a result. He is as good as gone.

Jordan Montgomery

For all of the issues that the St. Louis Cardinals have had in their starting rotation, Jordan Montgomery has not been anything resembling a problem. In 18 starts this season, Montgomery has posted a 3.23 ERA and 2.3 fWAR thanks to his strong ability to limit hard contact and throw strikes.

Montgomery may be the perfect rental starter trade candidate at the trade deadline. Not only has he been very productive this season and is a pending free agent, but he is only making $10 million this season which makes him far more sensible than guys like Scherzer or Verlander who are owed big time money on their short-term deals.

Montgomery may be the guy that is the key to how the Cardinals do at the deadline. His elite walk rate is going to be highly attractive to contending teams that just need an arm that will keep them in games each night. St. Louis will be right to ask for a decent return for him as a result even though he is a rental.

Jordan Hicks

Cardinals' flamethrower Jordan Hicks is another reliever that is about to hit free agency and who has a lot of traits that contending teams want. Unlike Stratton, Hick's obvious calling card is his fastball which has averaged 100+ mph in 2023, but his sweeper has arguably been his best pitch this year as opposing batters are hitting just .107 against it.

The issue here is Hicks' command of the strike zone. In Hicks' five seasons in the big leagues, he has walked less than 5.14 BB/9 in just one season which is....a lot of walks. Hicks also did have an elbow issue back in 2021 that could be spooky for teams that may be wary that guy that throws as hard as Hicks could break down on them down the stretch.

In the end, those are minor quibbles and Hicks will be in high demand at the deadline. Despite the walk issues, Hicks' upside with his 100% percentile fastball velocity is too much to ignore especially given that he shouldn't cost an arm and a leg as a rental.

Tyler O'Neill

We are now in the more speculative part of the list here. Tyler O'Neill has long been rumored to be available in a trade due to his back injury and the drama between himself and Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. It seems like a parting of ways could benefit both parties in the short and long term.

O'Neill should, in theory, be an attractive trade chip at the trade deadline. Unlike a lot of the other names on this list, O'Neill still has a year of team control after this season and when he is actually on the field, he is very productive player on both sides of the ball. If he can be anything resembling the guy he was in 2021 where he hit 34 homers and won a Gold Glove, some team could end up with a steal.

However, staying on the field has been a real problem for O'Neill in his career. In addition to the back injury this year, he has dealt with issues with his hamstring and shoulder the last couple of years. The extra year of team control helps his case, but contenders looking for immediate offensive help may steer clear of him.

Paul DeJong

Finally, we come to Paul DeJong who has increasingly been the subject of trade rumors as the season has gone on. DeJong's contract is particularly attractive to teams needing an infielder as he has two club options for 2024 and 2025 after this season. Those options aren't particularly cheap, but they give the team that acquires him some options if he is awesome in the second half.

The Dodgers have already been mentioned as an option on the trade market for DeJong and even if that doesn't work out, there will be suitors for DeJong. With Masyn Winn lurking in the minor leagues, DeJong is expendable and could bring back talent that could help the Cardinals in 2024 and beyond.

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